25 May 2019, Saturday 18:57

A roundtable discussion centered on the problems of the gas chemical industry has been held in Russia. The topics of discussion were the “shale revolution in the US”, the opportunities for developing new projects in Russia, feedstock transportation problems, project funding issues and scientific developments in the field.

An explosion has happened at the Omsk Rubber Plant (“Omsky Kautchuk”), marking the latest addition to the close succession of industrial accidents that have recently shook Stavrolen, Kuibyshev Refinery, and several other chemical industry plants. Market players are blaming the accidents on the poor technical condition of the plants’ equipment, deterioration of key production assets, poor execution of scheduled preventive repairs, and human error.

An En Dok, General Director of OJSC Bashkir Soda Company (BSC), has given an interview to The Chemical Journal, speaking of the threatened closure of his plant, prospects for solving the crisis, and addressing the issue of the environmental burden of soda production.

Russia's chemical industry posted a growth in 2013, bucking the stagnant-to-downward trend of the country's industry as a whole. Newly launched plants, as well as facilities brought from protracted idling, contributed to this growth.